Abstract: Eugene O'Neill's Beyond the Horizon, telling the tragedies of Robert and Andrew, reveals the irreconcilable contradiction between the dream and the reality. This paper aims to analyze the causes of their tragedies from three aspects, namely, the external causes, the internal causes and the occasional causes. In the external aspect, both the prosperous economic circumstances and the great revolution of social ideology have a profound effect on the fate of the brothers. Internally, the personal characters are the important causes of their tragedies. Robert is too romantic and imaginative to recognize the essence of life, and Andrew is so crude and rush that he chooses the wrong way of his life. Besides the internal and external causes, the occasional causes such as their father’s sudden death  also play a great role in the tragedies of the brothers. This paper concludes that human being's fate not only depends on the individuality, the social environment , but also to a certain degree depends on the occasionality.

Key words: tragedy;external causes; internal causes; occasional causes

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction..  1

1.1Introduction to Eugene O'Neill

1.2Introduction to Beyond the Horizon

   1.3 Literature Review

2.external Causes of the Tragedies of the Brothers3

  2.1 The Economic Situation

  2.2 The external Ideology

3.Internal Causes of the Tragedies of the Brothers 5

  3.1 Robert: romantic and imaginative

  3.2 Andrew: rush and impulsive 

4. Occasional Causes of the Tragedies of the Brothers  6

  4.1 Family accidents

  4.2 Robert's disease

  4.3 Andrew's bankruptcy 

5.Conclusion 9

Bibliography. 10

Acknowledgments..11